The Future Is NFT Gaming

In a world of downloads and streaming, there is a new breed of games that is picking up steam. Virtual worlds and games where you earn rewards are becoming a reality. This post examines why play to earn gaming is trending up and how the tools of the future are going to make this a reality.

Play-to-earn gaming means that you actually get paid for playing online games. While it may sound far fetched, it is indeed possible to get paid to play online games. Let's dig into play-to-earn gaming, what types of games are available, and how you can get started.

To give a little content, I'm not what you might consider a gamer. I have gone several years as an entrepreneur without playing games at all… and then I got a phone.

Now, I do have an Xbox, and I play games periodically.

I'm one of a group of people who will be drawn to NFT gaming and gaming on the blockchain over the next few years. I invest in crypto and see the potential of this growing asset class which solves a myriad of problems with the current system of fiat money.

What exactly is an NFT?

Check out this video:

The Rise of Blockchain Gaming

Blockchain gaming is gaming – but with assets tied to the blockchain. This technological development allows in-game assets, which are common in so many games, to become unique, non-fungible assets.

A lot of games already have in-gamer assets. Many of them even allow you to buy them for real money.

Let's look at FIFA 21.

EA got in some hot water in certain countries for their EA points programs – where they encourage gamers to buy FIFA points with real money – and then use those point to purchase packs in hopes of packing Neymar or Mbappe.

FIFA has a host of in-game assets players can buy, including players, position change modifiers, chemistry items, kits and more.

But what if these in-game marketplace items had a real-world value outside the game?

That's the link the Blockchain gaming is going to fill over the next couple of years.

How I Got Hooked on Play-To-Earn Gaming

I took a step towards earning money from gaming this year when I decided to sell my FUT coins for real money – something that is frowned upon by EA.

So I took my coins that I had earned from artibrage and selling on the market – and put them on a third party-platform.

It's a clunky way to do it, but it allowed me to convert my FUT coins into cryptocurrency. (FUT Coins, which have a depreciating value as the FIFA 21 season comes to a close.)

I cashed out about $78 into Litecoin, which I plan to re-invest into the next iteration of the FIFA franchise.

So that got me started on looking at games – and different ways you can earn real money playing games.

NFT Gaming is all about the play-to-earn model.

And if you ALREADY play games, why wouldn't you consider playing a game on the Blockchain where you can earn real money?

(In case you were wondering, most people have NO IDEA you can earn money from gaming at the present time.)

What's Hot in NFT Gaming?

Currently, one of the biggest and best-known play-to-earn games is Axie Infinity.

It's similar to Pokemon TCG in that you collect little monsters or Axies that have certain stats – and you battle other players to gain glory and rewards.

You have to start with a team of 3 Axies, which are cute NFT tokens that you can collect, breed and battle with.

But here's the catch. You need some real money to get started with Axie Infinity – about a thousand dollars worth of Ethereum. (You have been stocking up on ETH, right?)

So to get started and create your team, you need to purchase 3 Axies from the Axie Infinity Marketplace via MetaMask and Ronin, which are crypto wallets.

But interestingly, there is no cost for the game itself. SkyMavis, the company that created Axies Infinity, takes a 4.25% commission on all marketplace sales, which is good business for them.

How Can Gamers Make Money With Axie Infinity?

There are several ways to make money in the game.

First, you can earn money for playing games, via SLP or Smooth Love Potion (which is currently ranked #340 by CoinGecko.

Second, you can make money buying and selling Axies and in-game items in the marketplace. The Marketplace is priced in ETH, so instead of in-game currencies, you are using real crypto to buy and sell.

Third, you can loan out your Axies via scholarships and allow other gamers (who would not be able to get into the game because of the cost) to do the grunt work and earn SLP, and you can have a revenue share with them. The neat thing is that this is handled by the Ronin wallet and smart contracts – which shows an interesting use-case for smart contracts in real-world applications.

I love the fact that this third option creates an ability to create a passive income, and teaches gamers how to think like a business owner.

There is also the ASX token and some other aspects to the game. But essentially you can earn a decent amount of income from just playing the game every day and completing the objectives.

Sky Mavis, the company behind Axie Infinity just released their own Ronin mobile wallet and decentralized exchange in November 2021:

The Future Of Gaming

NFT Gaming is not only rewarding gamers for playing, but it's attracting the interest of investors.

Take a game like Hay Day or Brawl Stars. The game creators, Supercell created fast-paced freemium games with focus on in-game micropayments that added up to a staggering $1.4 Billion in revenue during the COVID-19 Pandemic!

Blockchain gaming is the next step in the evolution of gaming.

Look at the transition in how games are priced has changed over the past few years.

Most games used to cost a one-time fee. You own the game and play as much as you want. But recently, the majority of games have moved to a freemium model: free to download and play, but you can (and are encouraged to) purchase in-game assets for real money.

The next step is moving those in-game assets to the blockchain and developing a robust marketplace.

Blockchain Gaming rewards consistency, skill and arbitrage.

First, blockchain gaming is built to reward consistency. Log in daily and complete your objectives to obtain a reward. That's central to building the type of attention and audience you need to grow a community around a game. (Objectives have been proven to help build a psychological pull back towards the game and gives gamers concrete reasons to play daily – which is good business, of course.)

A strong community leads to a strong marketplace and a robust financial ecosystem where game manufacturers and gamers both win.

Opening New Doors In Gaming

Right now, there are investors who don't play games who are monitoring the price of ENJIN or SLP daily because they see an opportunity.

Real people are playing the games, but there are different layers to the onion.

You can make money in different ways.

Take Axie Infinity, for example.

You can make money trading in and out of SLP and AXS on Binance.

You can make money playing the game, earning SLP, and converting that back to fiat.

There are people who are making a full-time income in some cases just by playing an NFT game! Read that again and realize the implications of that for a hot second.

In fact, check out this documentary about how the Axie craze has impacted the Philippines during the pandemic:

With one of the first NFT games ever, normal people…

-not investors

• not entrepreneurs
• not streamers
• just average people playing the game

…are making money.

How cool is that?

The best part, we are at the tip of the iceberg.

Everyone wants to be a gamer

I recently taught a YouTube course to kids online. It was a fun experience because I see YouTube and becoming a creator as a path to teaching kids how to be independent and develop skills as an entrepreneur.

But I was a little surprised to lean that NEARLY every kid ALREADY HAD a gaming channel. And those that didn't, took the class because they wanted to start a gaming channel.

Kids today want to grow up and become a Streamer, like kids a decade ago wanted to become Astronauts.

Having the ability to get paid to do what you love and play games seems like a dream come true.

Now, with NFT Gaming, they can paid for it.

Not only do you have attention, but you're making money playing games!

Look, there are not all roses with crypto gaming yet. The gas fees on ETH are still too high, but there is huge potential in this space.

Question: do you think in 5 years there will more people playing blockchain games and earning real money?

The future is obvious. Learn how to play games.